Business Exit Strategy Planner
Build a comprehensive exit strategy for your business — whether you're planning an acquisition, merger, management buyout, or orderly wind-down — with valuation frameworks, timeline, and preparation checklists.
Prompt Template
You are a business exit advisor who has guided 50+ founders through successful exits. Help me plan an exit strategy for: **Business type:** [e.g., SaaS, e-commerce, agency, manufacturing] **Annual revenue:** 0 **Annual profit/EBITDA:** 0 **Years in operation:** [number] **Team size:** [number] **Growth rate:** [% year-over-year] **Why exiting:** [e.g., retirement, burnout, new venture, market timing, partner dispute] **Preferred exit type:** [acquisition / merger / management buyout / IPO / liquidation / unsure] **Ideal timeline:** [e.g., 6 months, 1-2 years, 3+ years] **Current state of the business:** [owner-dependent vs. runs without you, documented processes vs. tribal knowledge] Provide: 1. **Exit readiness assessment** — score across 8 dimensions (financials, team, documentation, customer concentration, legal, scalability, owner dependency, market timing) with specific gaps to close 2. **Valuation estimate** — using relevant methods for the business type (revenue multiple, EBITDA multiple, DCF) with comparable benchmarks 3. **Exit type recommendation** — which exit path maximizes value given the current situation, with pros and cons of alternatives 4. **12-month preparation roadmap** — quarter-by-quarter actions to increase business value and attractiveness before going to market 5. **Owner dependency reduction plan** — specific steps to make the business run without you (the #1 value killer in small business exits) 6. **Due diligence preparation checklist** — every document and data room item a buyer will request 7. **Deal structure basics** — cash vs. earnout vs. equity roll, and what to watch for in each 8. **Advisory team** — which professionals you need (M&A advisor, attorney, CPA, wealth manager) and when to engage them 9. **Post-exit considerations** — non-compete terms, transition period, tax planning, and what to do with the proceeds
Example Output
Exit Strategy — CloudSync (B2B SaaS)
**Revenue:** .4M ARR | **EBITDA:** K | **Growth:** 35% YoY | **Team:** 14
Exit Readiness Score: 6.2/10
| Dimension | Score | Notes |
|-----------|-------|-------|
| Financials | 8/10 | Clean books, strong margins |
| Team | 7/10 | Good, but CTO is a single point of failure |
| Documentation | 5/10 | SOPs exist for support, not for engineering or sales |
| Customer concentration | 4/10 | Top 3 clients = 42% of revenue 🚨 |
| Legal | 6/10 | IP assigned properly, but employee agreements need updating |
| Scalability | 7/10 | Architecture scales, but onboarding is manual |
| Owner dependency | 4/10 | Founder handles all enterprise sales 🚨 |
| Market timing | 8/10 | B2B SaaS multiples strong in current market |
Valuation Estimate
| Method | Multiple | Estimated Value |
|--------|----------|-----------------|
| Revenue multiple (5-8x for SaaS at 35% growth) | 6.5x | .6M |
| EBITDA multiple (12-18x for SaaS) | 15x | .2M |
| **Blended estimate** | | **-16M** |
12-Month Preparation Roadmap
**Q1:** Hire VP of Sales to take over enterprise relationships. Begin SOPs for all departments.
**Q2:** Diversify revenue — no single client above 15%. Clean up legal (employment agreements, IP).
**Q3:** Engage M&A advisor. Prepare data room. Begin buyer outreach.
**Q4:** Negotiate LOIs. Due diligence. Close.
Owner Dependency Reduction
1. Hire VP Sales and co-sell for 90 days before full handoff
2. Document your decision-making frameworks (pricing, partnerships, roadmap)
3. Appoint an operational leader who runs weekly team meetings
4. Remove yourself from day-to-day Slack channels for 30 days as a stress test
Due Diligence Checklist
- [ ] 3 years of audited financials
- [ ] Customer list with contract terms, renewal dates, and LTV
- [ ] Employee roster with compensation, equity, and key-person risk
- [ ] IP ownership documentation
- [ ] All vendor and partner contracts
- [ ] Churn data with cohort analysis
- [ ] Technical architecture documentation
- [ ] Legal: incorporation docs, cap table, any litigation
Tips for Best Results
- 💡Start preparing 12-24 months before you want to exit — rushed exits leave significant money on the table
- 💡Customer concentration above 20% for any single client is a red flag for buyers — start diversifying immediately
- 💡The #1 thing that kills deal value is owner dependency — if the business can't run without you for 30 days, it's not ready to sell
- 💡Ask for a "tax-optimized exit" analysis separately — the difference between asset sale and stock sale can be hundreds of thousands of dollars
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Business Exit Strategy Planner prompt?
Build a comprehensive exit strategy for your business — whether you're planning an acquisition, merger, management buyout, or orderly wind-down — with valuation frameworks, timeline, and preparation checklists. It's a free ChatGPT prompt template from our Business collection — copy it, fill in the bracketed variables, and paste it into your AI tool.
Which AI tools work with this prompt?
It's written and tested for ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. Any AI assistant that accepts free-form text prompts will handle it well.
How do I customize this ChatGPT prompt?
Replace the bracketed variables — such as [number], [% year-over-year], [e.g., 6 months, 1-2 years, 3+ years] — with your own details before running it. Start preparing 12-24 months before you want to exit — rushed exits leave significant money on the table
Is this prompt free to use?
Yes. Every prompt on PromptAtlas is free to copy, customize, and use — no signup required.
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